Child Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Irish Church 1996–2021: Guidelines and Canonical Response

Abstract

When the sexual abuse crisis exploded in the Irish Church, the canonical expertise, experience and the administrative processes for dealing with and managing complaints and suspicions of child sexual abuse by clergy were simply not fit for purpose. Addressing the crisis in the Irish Church required not only a canonical but a multidimensional response involving pastoral supports to victims and other parties, preventative measures, education, guidelines, policies, procedures, training and monitoring. Four sets of guidelines (1996, 2005, 2008, 2016) document the Irish Church’s increasingly robust efforts to address this crisis supplemented by the clearer universal norms issued by the Holy See. The article highlights some of the significant developments in the guidelines and canonical legislation: the paramountcy principle; the issue of recognitio and the binding authority of these guidelines. The nature and value of guidelines is that it they can never be completely definitive, and are continually evolving to reflect changes in the statutory context, best practice, in canon law or otherwise as these arise.